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Northeast Rod Run
02-16-2012, 09:01 PM
What is it with contractors in Massachusetts? Granted I'm in a different part of the state, but I remember reading when WaynieZ was going through all his problems getting a contractor.

I called my first contractor back before the winter. He came out measured and never called back. I called and left a message with another about a month ago and no return phonecall.

I had a friend of mine (has his own structural engineering firm) contact one of his clients and all I got back was a secondhand email, saying that he didn't quite understand what I was looking for, but he still managed to give me what I thought was an outrageous price.

I actually called back my original guy last week (who is a friend by the way) and left a message. No return phonecall

I called another one that I know is reputable and he was supposed to come by today. Well, if he came by I don't think I would have started this thread. Doesn't anybody want work? I thought the econony sucked and no one was spending money so all these contractors are supposed to be hurting?

I'm still holding out hope for today's guy. I am optomistic he will come by tomorrow, but at the same time I know a sucker is born every minute

waynieZ
02-16-2012, 09:20 PM
You just gave me a chill thinking back. BRRRRRR! It sucks but ahng in there.
Good luck tomorrow.

GregWeld
02-16-2012, 09:32 PM
If a guy doesn't do what he SAYS he's going to do ---- what kind of a job do you think you'd get for your money.

There's good contractors out there -- you just need to find one.


Tuesday at 2:00 is Tuesday at 2:00.... not Wednesday "maybe".

Sieg
02-16-2012, 09:51 PM
What's the scope and scale of the work? Reading between the lines one could assume they may be perceiving the project as more of a liability than opportunity?

Northeast Rod Run
02-16-2012, 10:26 PM
If a guy doesn't do what he SAYS he's going to do ---- what kind of a job do you think you'd get for your money.
I hear ya. At this point I'm not really looking for any of these guys to be my final contractor. I'm just looking for price points, so when I get a decent guy I'll know a little better about the final figures

The way I always look at anything that I purchase (be it goods or services), is that if you have a hard time getting a hold of them just to give them your money, how much harder is it going to be, if you have problems later, once you have already paid them?

Northeast Rod Run
02-16-2012, 10:31 PM
What's the scope and scale of the work? Reading between the lines one could assume they may be perceiving the project as more of a liability than opportunity?Pretty simple and straight forward stuff.

Somewhere between a 16' or 24' wide by 28' deep addition to the side of an existing garage. Keeping exact same roofline so there is no extra stuff there. Only need to put up three walls and take down the existing wall from the original garage. Pour a 4' foundation (code) and concrete floor. No electrical or interior work needed. All setbacks have plenty of room and no need for any variances and on a level lot

Sieg
02-16-2012, 10:40 PM
Pretty simple and straight forward stuff.

Somewhere between a 16' or 24' wide by 28' deep addition to the side of an existing garage. Keeping exact same roofline so there is no extra stuff there. Only need to put up three walls and take down the existing wall from the original garage. All setbacks have plenty of room and no need for any variances and on a level lot

Possible building permit issues?

Being in the floor covering business most my life in the Northwest I've dealt with the same "uncomprehendable" issues. Sometimes (20%) there's justifiable reasons, it's the 80% that's very frustrating.

Maybe try a local well established contrator supply business (not big-box Home Depot/Lowes) for a local contractor referal, they're naturally motivated to provide work for their better customers. Your local building permit department may also be a source.

Track Junky
02-16-2012, 10:54 PM
A set of approved plans would be a good start. A contractor is not going to know how to build something without them due to needing to see the structurals. Typically your architect will draw up the plans and then send them to an engineer. Once the engineer has calculated the structs they are sent off to the city or county for approval. As long as the city or county has approved them a contractor now knows what is entailed in the build through the structural drawings. There is always a possibility that a soils tech may need to analyze the soils for proper basement/foundation build which could entail work above and beyond typical. The contractor could give you a base estimate on a typical build but that price is not set in stone until he has a set of structurals to look at.

Northeast Rod Run
02-17-2012, 11:45 AM
I actually have a set of plans being drawn up, eventhough they aren't required by the city

You guys are all bringing up possible issues (though very rare around here for residential stuff), but none of those apply to me yet, because I can't even get a callback nevermind quoting issues.

It is also a very nice and established neighborhood that I live in

Track Junky
02-17-2012, 11:52 AM
So the city does not require you to submit a set of plans for approval on an addition?
Are you sure your not on Fantasy Island? :lol:

Sorry, that was to easy. Good luck!!

Northeast Rod Run
02-17-2012, 12:57 PM
So the city does not require you to submit a set of plans for approval on an addition?
Are you sure your not on Fantasy Island? :lol:

Sorry, that was to easy. Good luck!!You don't have to submit a formal set of plans. You can just work off pretty much a sketch.

The thing is if you do that, they are much more strict with their approvals, so most people will overbuild, but many people still do it that way. When you do have plans though, the city is much more forgiving because the designer's stamp is on it, so all the responsibility falls on him instead of the city.

Yuo can even pull your own building permit without having a contractor

Track Junky
02-17-2012, 01:11 PM
That goes for pretty much anywhere. Most agencies require 3 sets at a certain size plus one extra elevation page.

Once you open up the wall on the existing structure your going to have to place a beam with a post on each end. Beam and post size will have to be calculated. In addition, the load has now transferred to each end of the beam which means a new footing on each side. Another thing is that once you have opened up that wall it has lost it's shear value and an engineer is going to have to figure out what hardware and material to use to regain it's shear value.

My recommendation, get something drawn up and engineered then make your phone calls. You are wasting peoples time when you dont have a set of plans. Gas and time cost money.

Northeast Rod Run
02-17-2012, 04:10 PM
One guy finally came by today and i only talked to him last week, but then again he is a friend. He already said he can't even think about touching it until mid-summer, but that is ok by me because I'm trying to pay cash for almost all of it and that just gives me more time to save.

I've told guys that I don't have plans yet, but they say it doesn't matter to them. Some said that they wanted to come by first to see the lot anyway. That way when they get the plans they already know the site. A couple of them have even said that they don't need any because they have their own software that they generate plans from.

Track Junky
02-17-2012, 04:26 PM
I've told guys that I don't have plans yet, but they say it doesn't matter to them. Some said that they wanted to come by first to see the lot anyway. That way when they get the plans they already know the site. A couple of them have even said that they don't need any because they have their own software that they generate plans from.


No, it doesn't matter to them but they didn't come running over to take a look though did they. I gaurantee if you had an approved set of plans they would be alot more inclined to pay you a visit.

waynieZ
02-19-2012, 03:47 PM
Even with plans they don't always come. I gave a copy of stamped plans to a contractor and he still has them a year after it got built. we played phone and going to his current site tag, nothing ever came of it. I was also told if you pull the permit the contractor can leave the job while not complete. But if he pulls it he is responsible for it. You'll know when you talk to the right guy he will be interested and be in contact with you in an acceptable time frame..

John510
02-19-2012, 04:32 PM
Go on yelp and find a good one. You can tell by the reviews before you even call if they will be great or suck.

Northeast Rod Run
02-20-2012, 06:19 PM
Go on yelp and find a good one. You can tell by the reviews before you even call if they will be great or suck.

hmmmm...................

makoshark
02-20-2012, 11:07 PM
hmmmm...................

That may be fine, but I would stick with someone you can get a recommendation from someone you know. You never know on those type of sites who the person is giving the review.

As for contractors not calling back, I'm a contractor, and I have recently experienced just that on a job I was on. I cannot explain as to why they are doing it. If I ran into a job I simply did not want to do, then I would either tell the potential customer I was just too busy to do the job or give an overly high estimate. Construction work has begun to pick back up, so many are busy. The pickings are slim compared to pre-2008 as many contractors couldn't tough out the recession. I would say, if the contractor doesn't do a follow-up with you, then do not bother calling them back. You're just asking for future grief if you do manage to get one of them to actually start working on your project.

Pay my traveling expenses and room and board and I'll come knock it out for ya:unibrow:

OOCustoms
02-21-2012, 07:44 PM
Im no longer in the roofing biz directly since Im in the Air Force now but a site I was and am still on is Roofing.com. It has many very good contractors on it. I know your looking for a general contractor as well so you might try going on there and see if anyone is on there in your area and maybe has general contractors they know and use. Like I said Ive been on the site for a couple years now and there are plenty of very good roofers on there. Im not talking about just guys who roof for a living but guys who live and breath roofing which is very rare. Anyways I hope this helps and if you need any advice on roofing just let me know.

Marc

Northeast Rod Run
02-28-2012, 04:20 PM
Got my estimate by email today and I am very happy with it. I guess it's good to have friends that are willing to pass their discounts on to you.

I should be talking to the contractor by week's end, just to work out the fine details. I'm hoping I can at least start the foundation work by early summer, but in reality I will be happy even if it takes all year to get it done. Just don't want my '69 to spend another winter inside a tent

The biggest thing now, is just figuring out how to pay for it:_paranoid

Northeast Rod Run
03-16-2012, 08:06 PM
Looks like I'll be breaking ground sometime soon after Memorial Day weekend. :cheers:

I will be getting the foundation and floor poured at that time, and then the rest of the project will probably go a little slower due to me trying to pay cash for the whole thing.

When the project gets going, I'll most likely start another thread with a better title than this one;)

waynieZ
03-16-2012, 08:44 PM
Great news! I'll be watching for your build thread.

Northeast Rod Run
03-21-2012, 07:03 PM
I'm going to a meeting tomorrow morning at the office of the guy who's drawing up the plans. The builder is also going to be there.

They want to hammer out some things, between the two of them, that they don't totally agree on right now. We are all friends and I'm sure I'm not going to understand half the stuff they discuss, but I'm probably just going to end up playing moderator between them both. LOL!!

dug
03-26-2012, 05:57 PM
Once you do find a someone who seems "good" try getting a lawyer to draft up a contract for you that way you can save yourself from getting screwed. Or at least you know you did your best to save yourself. There are ways of holding retention, progress payments etc. that you can hold some money until things are right.